Catch A Falling Star
by PenCorp
Summary: Not quite Ninja Universe. Neji's given to heavy rumination on roof tops, and maybe not a little drinking, but he decides he has a good reason. Hinata's always a quarter of an inch beyond his reach. NejiHina Oneshot


1_Catch A Falling Star_ - - 2054 (A/N - what the hell is it with these star analogies? Yet again, I don't like the title, so make a suggestion)

Neji finished off his third bottle of beer that night, looking forward to the next case and a half with something close to relief. Watching the fog spread itself across slopped roofs and high rises, hearing the church toll out that magical hour between today and tomorrow or yesterday and today, _all of it, _he mused, went toward drowning a ridiculously broken heart.

And here he'd thought it would be the chick doing what he was doing in this situation.

He snorted and for some reason the scent of her caught hold of his senses, stomping on things that were already abused until the pain was almost unbearable. So he drank another beer. And another one.

And another one.

And another one - - though he'd lost count now.

Amid the pleasant buzzing and slosh of cloudy rainwater in his head, Neji realized how stupid it was that each drink only made him feel worse. He was even more bloody emotional than before. Although, he decided, the disconnectedness was a definite plus. Neji knew he was brooding or perhaps even _weepy _(the word made him twitch a little) but at least he didn't remember exactly why.

So he drank another one, and after climbing unsteadily to his feet, chucked the bottle as far as it would go. The distant shatter made something loosen in his chest. _Okay_, he thought rapidly, _okay, this is okay, I'll be okay. _

Then he fell back against the roof tile with only a minor misstep and found himself starring at a black and uncaring sky. He decided, even though he didn't see one, he'd make a wish on a star falling somewhere, because _it still had to count, right?_

"_Ugh, this stuff tastes like piss, coz!"_

_She smiles and winces at the taste as well. You think the girl you marry will have a smile like hers, like your cousin, because not many people smile at you like that. Then you turn away and retract the previous thought, because it's weird._

_She wrinkles her nose and you swallow more of what is now dubbed 'horse piss extreme.'_

"_Sorry. It's all my dad's got in the fridge."_

_She sticks out her tongue and you've already forgiven her anyway_. _You've just turned thirteen._

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Neji started awake at the brush of pink through his eyelids, immediately rolling over and throwing up the chicken salad he'd ate around ten am yesterday. It tasted terrible, like something he scraped off his shoe.

Wiping at his mouth, he felt a sudden chill creep up his spine, making him rub at his shoulders. He didn't want to go inside though, because all his stupid relatives were gossiping excitedly to each other about _her_. Surely, he mused, sharing blood as they did, his stupid aunts and uncles would see all those things he kept close to heart. Neji knew it was shameful, that ringing 'first cousins' like a curse in his head, but what the hell could he do about it?

She'd kept his confidences. He'd broken her first boyfriend's nose.

_And some things,_ he thought sadly as he flicked the bottles into a roll off the roof, _you never grow out of._

"_Isn't it wonderful Neji? I'm gonna be a star!"_

_You think she's already a star, and there's no 'gonna' about it._

"_They've already got me under contract, I'll be moving to Los Angeles. I'm gonna buy a big house too. You'll come visit me! We can buy a bunch of dogs, because I love them so much."_

_You think she sounds so young, and the crackling static of her cell doesn't do her voice any justice. You think she already sounds a million miles away._

"_That's-" you're not sure what to say, so you stumble, but you always catch yourself, "- wonderful, coz. I can't wait to see you on T.V."_

_She giggles and your stomach twists. You wish you could hug her in person and say all the things you want to say - but then you're glad you're not, because she'd probably hate you afterwards_.

_You think bitterly, how this might be a full chapter in your memoirs, because loving your cousin sucks._

"_I miss you, Neji. I wish you were here with me. You're like a brother you know."_

_Fuck it, you think, the whole goddamn book will be about this girl._

"_...right."_

_She laughs at your monosyllabic response, which you thought sounded sharper than you' d meant, but obviously she's used to you by now. You also decide you hate the word 'coz' and 'brother' with the entirety of your soul, because it delineates a line between you._

_You wish you could just say her name once, because you haven't since she was ten years old._

"_Well, Neji, I'll call you in a few weeks."_

_She didn't, and you weren't particularly surprised._

_But still, it hurt._

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(Add On Five Years)

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Neji sucked in a breath as he watched the sun finally break into the horizon, the pinks blazing red and the reds blazing yellow. He remembered, tugging at the ponytail in his hair, how much she liked little things like the sunrise, the yellow part of an egg and making faces at babies on trains.

He suddenly scrambled for the battery radio he'd dragged out with him. Maybe it was pathetic, actually it was a lot pathetic, he admitted, but just the thought of her voice made the edge he'd been feeling since he arrived, diminish. Frankly he hated reunions unless she was there.

Racing between stations, Neji finally found what he was looking for. The soft strains of a love song, and he thought it was funny how quaint that was, because she sang a sad love song - - the unrequited kind.

Then he sat down and watched the rest of the sun rise. _And_, he decided, it was almost like she was there _with him._

_You see her face on billboards now. It's beautiful and big, with bright pale eyes and fluttery purple hair and you think 'well that's media magic for you.'_

_Except you know she's even more beautiful than airbrush and sparkle in real life. You know her eyes have their own vibrancy and don't need silly shiners and reflectors to make them seem...more._

_You drove all the way across country just to see her first concert and you don't know why it left you feeling empty inside. You don't even know what you want anymore. She's wonderful and so far away from you fingertips now._

_Like a shooting star that exists but you can't see - - at least, can't see for real._

_You hear she's dating so and so, and it disgusts you to follow all those ridiculous tabloids but it's all you have and she doesn't really call you anymore and you understand that but -_

_God, you miss her._

_Even more than before and here you thought her absence would encourage you to get over this stupid obsession._

_One day she calls you at your apartment at two a.m. Your twenty-two and still given to sleeping on roof tops, but for some reason your in bed that night. Probably because of the girl lying next to you, but your too disoriented to remember that._

"_Hello?" You mumble tiredly, perhaps a little irritated. You figure the caller can just deal with it because no one likes to be woken up a two a.m. on a weekday._

"_Hey, Neji."_

_You're suddenly wide awake and you think you're dreaming._ _Its silent while you find yourself, slip out of bed and pad quietly onto the balcony. You smile sadly for a moment, before you start talking again._

"_Hey coz."_

_She laughs, and (because no matter how far a part you get you know her to the bone) you hear how lost and tired she sounds. You want to make her happy, even at two in the morning._

"_So, I've learned a couple terrible pick up lines, you want to hear 'em?"_

_You realize how bad you are at cheering people up. She laughs again, so you figure you must've done something right, and suddenly your own smile's a tenth of an inch less sad than before._

"_Not, particularly, no. I just wanted to hear from my best friend, who I haven't heard from in forever."_

_You feel a twinge of anger, because she was the one who didn't call you, and a million unreturned messages make you feel even more like a girl. Sometimes, you decide, all you have left is your pride. _

_You don't say anything and maybe she understands too._

"_I've been...really busy, Neji. Forgive me?"_

_You hear the 'nyah, nyah' in her voice and you smile a happy smile. You've already forgiven her._

"_I'm coming to visit soon. I just wanted to tell you first. The tour's gone well and we'll probably pick up again in May, so they let me off for some recouping. I wasn't doing to good a few weeks ago."_

_She laughs and your stomach doesn't twist so much this time as it seems to settle peacefully. You just revel in the sound of her. You think perhaps it's a sign of maturity that you don't feel so terrible or inadequate._

_You still love her, but it's no longer tainted by self doubt._

"_I'm glad, Hinata."_

_Maybe it's the dreamy way the cigarette smoke drifts from your hand and blows up into the shallow darkness, or how the gray sky looks stormy, that makes you easy and loose with yourself. Maybe its always just been her. You can smell her again and its as clean and bright as a memory._

_You wish the way her breaths quicken didn't make your blood race like that._

"_I-I'll see you then, Ne- coz."_

_You smile as you click off your phone. You think, while stubbing out the heel of your cigarette, that it's funny how things seem to change._

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Neji decided that watching sunrises all the way through into daybreak was much better with someone else, especially if that someone was _her_. The radio played a low, quasi-country song between them and he almost wanted to pat himself on the back for how perfect it was. He didn't particularly like stupid, overly romantic gestures, and she didn't like flowers anyway, dinner and a movie was too obvious, so this had been his best bet.

_Besides, it was nostalgic and he figured that was what she preferred._

It was quiet for a while and Neji barely noticed when she brushed aside the radio, then scooted into a spot next to him. However, when her fingers draped over his and her head fell softly onto his shoulder, he definitely took notice.

Her soft breaths ghosted across his ear.

"Thank you for my present."

Neji smiled and she kissed his cheek, just as the plaintive words of his present drifted out of the radio.

"_-You're falling back to me,  
the star that I can't see.  
I know you're out there,  
somewhere out there._

You're falling out of reach,  
defying gravity,  
I know you're out there,  
somewhere out there -"

A/N - okay, forgive me, I HATE songfics too, but I just couldn't help it. At least I avoided it until the very end, gimme props for that. I'm not a fan of the band or anything, I just like how the song meshes with the fic, and its pretty in a supernova sort of way. I'm weird.

Plz review, and I promise I'm working more on Until the stars. I just needed to get back into the Neji/Hina groove - - god, I remember why I love them so much. Oh, and take notice of the fact I never mention Hinata's name - - only once, heh heh - - because I wanted to illuminate the fact that there is only one _her _or _she _or _girl _to NejiI thought it was funny how I did that without even realizing_  
_it. One more thing! (woo these are getting extraneous) what didja think of the writing style? A little choppy, I know, but it was meant to be bits and pieces from his childhood until adulthood, from very far back flashbacks, to fairly recent ones. It was fun to write.

Now, on to MAH NEXT GREAT NEJI/HINA FIC, har har not! I'm such an egoist, someone cyber punch me.


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